Makale

Blue Jays, Donaldson avoid arbitration

The Toronto Blue Jays and third baseman Josh Donaldson avoided arbitration on Friday, at a reported record $23million.

The previous record deal for an arbitration-eligible player was Bryce Harper's $21.625m for the 2018 season, which was finalised last May.

Donaldson, 32, has been the subject of numerous trade rumours this offseason, with the St Louis Cardinals seemingly the most aggressive in bidding for his services. A career .277 hitter, Donaldson has hit at least 29 home runs in each of the last four seasons.

Toronto will likely now try to work out an extension with Donaldson even though he is on the wrong side of 30. Limited to just 113 games last season, Donaldson still bashed 33 home runs.